By Jamal Adel.
Tripoli, 3 February 2014:
Clashes in and around Sarir that have caused water and power shortages in other . . .[restrict]parts of the country are beginning to subside following negotiations between a government-led delegation and local combatants.
Spokesman for the delegation, Osama Al-Shreef, told the Libya Herald that a force drawn from the Benghazi-based Omar Mukhtar brigade and attached to Libya Shield No 1 was expected to arrive in Sarir today. They are to act as a buffer between the mostly Tebu and Zwai combatants who have been clashing in the area for over a month.
The arrival of the force has been agreed by Tebu-manned Petroleum Facilities Guards from the 25 Brigade and Zwai tribesmen from the 427 Brigade who are now set to withdraw. The terms of the truce were laid out by the delegation which arrived in Sarir two days ago headed by the Minister of Water Resources, Alhadi Suleiman Hinshir.
Shreef said that the delegation had made good progress in negotiations to resolve the prolonged security crisis that had forced the closure of Sarir Power Station. The closing of power plant and the cutting of power lines during clashes has caused power cuts in Tripoli and Benghazi and greatly reduced the capacity of the Man-Made River leading to water shortages in Benghazi, Ajdabiya and Sirte.
He added that if power supplies were not resumed to the Man-Made River, current rates of production could only provide water until Thursday. He added that while extra capacity could be drawn from wells at Sidi Mansour in Benina that this would only account for 20 percent of normal usage. [/restrict]
